AUPEN founder Nicholas Tan brings the Purpose bag into a new creative realm with his first solo exhibition in Manila.
Nicholas Tan built a career on restraint. He founded his fashion label AUPEN in 2022 without putting his own face anywhere near the brand, and he let his accessories do the talking until Madonna, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Hailey Bieber, and Olivia Rodrigo were all photographed carrying them. Now, the Singapore-based designer is stepping into full view in Manila.
On August 18, Nicholas opened his first solo exhibition at 125 PROJECTS in Mandaluyong, simply called Nicholas Tan at 125 PROJECTS. The show, which runs through August 30, hands him the entire gallery and centers on the Purpose bag, one of AUPEN’s most recognizable designs among a wider catalog of accessories. Sculpture, canvas, text and fabric all carry the bag’s silhouette, reworked into new forms.
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The Return: Why Nicholas Tan Is Mounting AUPEN In Manila
“I started thinking about what the journey would be like if I put the Purpose bag across different mediums,” Nicholas tells Lifestyle Asia. “So I started experimenting and trying things out to see how they would look and feel. I did it piece by piece and just went with the flow.”
Manila wasn’t a random pick. The designer swam competitively for Singapore as a teenager, representing the country at the Southeast Asian Championships, and Manila hosted several of those meets. “I remember sneaking out of the Games Village after competitions and having a lot of fun here,” he says. “When I was deciding where to do the exhibition, I wanted to go somewhere I was familiar with.”
Why The Purpose Bag Became The Show’s Centerpiece
The AUPEN Purpose bag became the anchor of the show almost by accident. Nicholas designed it as one piece within AUPEN’s line, and kept noticing how much the form stayed with him even after the design process ended. “It’s just something that, whenever I kept seeing it, I really liked,” he explains. “There wasn’t really a specific reason. I just did it. It’s a shape that really stuck with me.” There was no grand thesis behind the decision, only instinct sustained long enough to produce a body of work nearing a hundred pieces.
When Design Becomes Something More Personal
Some of that work came out of a breakup. Nicholas points to one sculpture in particular and describes the process behind it as freeing. “That piece over there, I made and found it when I had my heart broken,” he says, before adding, with a laugh at his own expense, “You broke my heart, but you showed me the creativity.” It’s a rare moment of disclosure from someone who spent years keeping his identity as the brand’s founder anonymous specifically to avoid becoming the story.
“When your mind is off that, it really allows you to create and think with your own mind,” he remarks of staying away from social media and trend cycles. “Sometimes, when you keep seeing content, you start noticing a lot of other things, and that can change the way you think as well.”
AUPEN has since traveled well beyond Singapore. The label now spends significant time in Paris and counts Europe and the United States among its largest markets, and has collaborated with LVMH Métiers d’Art along the way. Nicholas is careful to note that the brand remains independent.
An Exhibition You Can Take Home
The Manila show doubles as a designer pop-up. Two purple AUPEN Nirvana bags are exclusive to the exhibition, as well as 125-piece limited edition versions of the Nirvana signed by Nicholas as a nod to the gallery itself. The Purpose bag appears in three colorways: Black, Tweed Blue and Tweed Sakura, available only through the show.
“I wanted to make this a place where people could come with their friends and families, have a good time and remember the experience,” he says. “It can also become a reason or destination for people to explore something different. I think that’s what I wanted to do: create memories.”
Outside Of The Bag: The Start Of New Creative Ventures For AUPEN
The exhibit is the beginning of a studio practice separate from AUPEN’s commercial line. “This experience and the process of creating each of these pieces has been really liberating for me,” Nicholas says. The bags will keep circulating on runways and red carpets. The sculptures, it turns out, are just getting started.
Photos courtesy of 125 PROJECTS
Frequently Asked Questions
Nicholas Tan is the Singapore-based founder of AUPEN, an independent accessories brand he launched in 2022. He is also exploring visual art through his first solo exhibition in Manila.
Nicholas Tan’s first solo exhibition at 125 PROJECTS centers on AUPEN’s Purpose bag, reinterpreting its recognizable silhouette through sculpture, canvas, text, fabric and other mediums.
Nicholas Tan chose the Purpose bag because its distinctive shape stayed with him after he designed it for AUPEN. He began experimenting with the silhouette across different mediums and developed nearly 100 works.
Nicholas Tan’s solo exhibition is being held at 125 PROJECTS in Mandaluyong City. The exhibition opened on August 18 and runs through August 30.
Nicholas Tan plans to continue practicing visual art separately from AUPEN’s commercial line.
